Adventures With Pinterest - Apricot & Coconut Balls

Here is a new post series where I post about my attempts to do the stuff I find on Pinterest. I keep pinning the damn things so thought I better do something with them. So my first instalment is all about cooking.

I have developed a thing for apricot and coconut slice/balls while feeding my Little Miss late at night. I was churning through a packet a night, and at $5 a pack this habit was getting expensive. My mum suggested I make them myself instead, and once I saw how easy the recipe was I gave it a crack. 

My first hurdle was a food processor. I didn't have one. So mum kindly let me borrow hers (which reminds me I better return it some day soonish). I put the machine together then set out my ingredients. Turned the power on, put my apricots in, and pressed go. 

A big fat nothing happened.

Back to the drawing board I checked and rechecked everything. Saw a little bit of writing that said "lock to go" or something like that. So I did it. Power on and now a red light is flashing at me. I know red flashing light usually means "error, danger, stop, not happening" etc etc but I was hopeful that this red light just meant "I'm good to go boss". It didn't. I glared at the machine, it mocked me quietly with its smugness. I called for reinforcements 

Enter hubby who worked it all out pretty quick. Ha! take that food processor (I am also sad to say despite repeated use since this happened at least two more times).

So now I could make Apricot and Coconut Balls from a recipe I had found on Pinterest, from the Australian Woman's Weekly website. 

For non Aussies the Australian Women's Weekly magazine is a staple here for Australian women. Their recipes are pretty much idiot proof. Queue the idiot. 

I am proud to say these tasted good AND once the battle of wills with the food processor had been won (I suspect by the machine not me), dead easy to make. Trust me if I say it's easy, it's easy!

They are not as sweet as the ones I remember being sold in the school canteen when I was a kid. Probably because I didn't use a recipe with condensed milk in it (I found a few of those). The flavour is subtle and not super sweet, and no funny after taste in your mouth.

The best part (aside from being yummy and relatively healthy) is it is quick to make (maybe 30 mins start to finish max) and you can get kiddies involved (my Little Master made hairy snakes).

Go ahead and give it a try!

Apricot and Coconut Balls

Total Time: approximately 30mins start to finish

Ease of recipe: Beginners

Kid Friendly: Yes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (150g) chopped dried apricot

2 tablespoons boiling water

1/2 cup (60g) oat bran

1/2 cup (40g) dessicated coconut

1/4 cup (25g) skim milk powder

1/2 cup (40g) dessicated coconut, extra

METHOD

1. Place the dried apricot into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. 
2. Add the boiling water, oat bran, coconut and skim milk powder. Process until it forms a firm paste.
3. Take a heaped teaspoon of the mixture, roll into a ball, then roll in the extra coconut. 
4. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.